1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flexible combined air guide and shield used by a person drying his or her hair with a hooded hair dryer. The shield is a flexible tube placed over the hood and head of the user. It is secured at one end at the hair line of the user and at the other end drawn tight over the hood of the hair dryer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hood type hair dryers have come into widespread use in commercial salons for drying freshly washed and newly serviced hair. The hood partially covers the head and discharges heated air against the hair. This air flows from the top of the hood downwardly, eventually escaping through a gap existing between the head and the hood.
Despite their widespread acceptance, these dryers have certain problems. One is that there is a conflict between comfort and effectiveness. The greater the heat and air flow, the more effective the dryer will be. However, excessive heat or air flow or both may subject the skin and face of the user to excessive and potentially injurious heat. If the heat and air flow are reduced, or if the gap between the hood and the head of the user is widened, drying times will be extended.
A shield adapted to cooperate with the hood of a hair dryer is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,704,744, issued to Janice L. Myers on Nov. 10, 1987. The device of Myers comprises a visor extending entirely around the head, and disposed roughly at the hair line. The visor is held in place by straps passing over the head. By contrast, the present invention comprises a generally tubular member passing over both the hood and the head of the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,698,533, issued to James C. Brown on Jan. 8, 1929, illustrates a hair treating apparatus forming a tube open at two ends in a manner generally similar to that of the present invention. However, the present invention includes a lateral slot allowing passage of the supply air tube of the dryer through the novel shield, and is fastened by elastic at one end and a draw cord at the other, unlike the device of Brown.
Other flexible shields are seen in U.S. Pat. No. 1,023,677, issued to Gretel J. Pass on Apr. 16, 1912, U.S. Pat. No. 1,968,697, issued to Lillian C. McComb on Jul. 31, 1934, U.S. Pat. No. 2,568,399, issued to Faith Hope Kahn on Sep. 18, 1951, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,528, issued to Helen A. Dering on Jul. 1, 1997.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.